The Courses at Watters Creek - Traditions Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.7

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Allen
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The Courses at Watters Creek - Traditions Course Review

The Courses at Watters Creek Traditions Course Review

The Courses at Watters Creek, formally known as Chase Oaks, is owned and managed by the City of Allen and is home to the championship 18 hole Traditions Course, the 9 hole Players Course, and the 6 hole Futures Course.  Starting in 2011 and continuing until mid 2014, over $9 million was spend on renovations to Watters Creek.  The Players Course, which has six par 3’s and 3 par 4’s was redesigned and softened up - and all of the forced carries were removed.  The Futures Course was designed and built for up and coming young future pros as well as golfers who want to practice their short game – the holes range from 40 to 100 yards.   The renovation also included adding a fantastic lighted state of the art practice area, buying new golf carts, expanding the bar and grill and menu, and more. 

The Traditions Course was completely redesigned and renovated by D. A. Weibring and opened for play in late 2012.  Some of what was accomplished during the redesign included: new irrigation systems, new cart paths, moving a lot of dirt to create new holes and reshaping some old ones, redoing all the bunkers and adding soft fluffy white sand, dredging and reshaping the nine lakes and adding a picturesque waterfall, removing as well as adding a lot of trees and trimming the underbrush, and adding new tee boxes and lengthening the course by 400 yards.

Wow, what an impressive renovation on Traditions!  We loved the original Chase Oaks and were concerned that the redesign would soften the course too much and get rid of a lot of the character and fun holes - but D A Weibring did a superb job of making the course more playable but still fun, challenging, and loaded with character.   And they kept the rates reasonable. 

If you liked Chase Oaks, but found it a little too tough, you’ll love the new Traditions at The Courses at Watters Creek!   The course may be one stroke easier but with the extra 400 yards (from the tips it's 7015 yards) it's still challenging - so make sure you pick a yardage that suites your game from one of the 5 tee boxes and don't bite off more than you can chew. 

The new front nine at the Traditions covers a lot of the terrain from the old back nine and has several fun and memorable holes:

  • #4 is a 516 yard par 4 that requires a good tee shot to carry the creek and head uphill with a shot that needs to avoid a bunker where the fairway turns left and continues uphill to a bunker front and left 
  • We’re pleased to say that the redesign left #6 (a 406 yard par 4 - #2 handicap) about the same and as fun and demanding as before: an elevated tee shot over the creek from the tips to a tight landing zone that has trouble left, a creek if you're long, and trees left and right that can block a shot over a creek that turns right then back left in front of an elevated green with a bunker front left and in the back
  • #7 still remains one of our favorites – a 512 yard fairly tight par 5 with 3 strategically placed fairway bunkers, a demanding 2nd shot to position you for a tough approach shot that needs to carry the lake to a green with little room for error thanks to 2 bunkers, the creek, and mounds - long hitters and risk takers might try to carry the lake and go for the green in two

The back nine of the Traditions Course plays where a lot of the old front nine used to be and some of the holes will seem familiar.  The new back is much more open and forgiving than the front.  We liked:

  • #10 is a 380 yard par 4 that at 100 out takes a sharp 90 degree turn right and crosses a wide and deep creek - accuracy off the tee and on the second shot
  • #12, which was a very tough #1, is now a 376 yard slight uphill then slight downhill dog left par 4
  • #16 is a beautiful 215 yard par 3 that is all carry over a pond to a raised green with swales and bunker left and front
  • 18 is a great finishing hole with a creek crossing the fairway, 4 fairway bunkers, 3 bunkers surrounding  the green, and 585 yards from the tips to the pin

The fairways at Watters Creek have matured nicely and when we played in February 2015 they were in excellent condition.  As was the rough which was very playable. Most of the fairways are ample and you can pull out the big dog and let-er-rip.  The fairways are tree lined and the creek will come into play on several holes and can cause some real problems.  On a couple holes there are some nice homes that can come into play. 

The greens are large with gentle slope and undulation.  They were in excellent condition when we played - ran fast at around 11, were soft, and true.  They are raised, most are guarded with some combination of swales, bunkers, or mounds - and there is lots of run off around the edges. 

The bunkers at The Courses at Watters Creek were perfect - thick, soft fluffy white sand, manageable lips, and a joy to play out of.

Bottom line - the redesign made the course more playable but still demanding and memorable. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 7,015 74.4 136
Blue 6,212 70.0 126
White 5,636 67.7 115
Gold 6,626 72.4 131
Red 4,979 64.8 111

Course Information

Course Architect:
D A Weibring
Greens Type:
Mini Verde
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
7.5
Fairway Condition
9.0
Bunker Condition
9.3
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Very
Scorecard
Course Map
Beware of water on 12 holes and the 46 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.7 out of 10
Beauty:
8.5
Difficulty:
8.7
Variety:
9.0
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
8.5
Condition:
8.8
Front Nine Rating:
9.0
Back Nine Rating:
8.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $36.00 to $56.00

Service is good, the facilities are great, and the pro shop is well stocked. The practice facilities are excellent and offer something for each part of your game. The grill has a bar and serves a variety of some good food.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.